Via Bruce Jenkins this morning -
Vintage work by Alex Rodriguez as he agreed to a story/photo shoot for Details magazine. At a time when he knew Sports Illustrated was about to reveal his steroid use, he downed a few shots of tequila, launched into full narcissistic mode and was photographed with his face against a mirror, essentially making love to himself. Man, is that A-Rod. Not a chance the Yankees ride out nine more years with this guy. He’s gone within three…
Jenkins is not the only one who thinks Rodriguez will not live out his full contract with the Yankees. I’ve heard others suggest this as well. But, the big questions is, of course, given the fact that Alex would be over 35 in three years, and his due tons of money, where would he go? What other team would pay someone that age, that much money?
The pool of possible teams would be the Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Cubs and maybe the White Sox. There’s no way the Yankees would trade him to the Mets or Red Sox. So, that leaves the Chicago teams and the Los Angeles teams.
So, what do you think? Say the Yankees and Alex agreed to part ways in a few years? Where would he go?
7 Responses to “Jenkins: A-Rod, Yanks, To Part Come 2012”
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March 21st, 2009 at 8:55 am
You’ve answered your own question. With a contract like that, he’s not going anywhere. Hank Steinbrenner’s blundering intervention into contract negotiations back in 2007 has left us with this millstone around our necks for the full decade of the contract. The sad part is that the Yankees bid against themselves then; no one else would have gone for so long a deal.
March 21st, 2009 at 11:11 am
If he were to go elsewhere, the Yanks would have to pay a very large chunk of his contract. With that in mind, why would the Yankees pay A-Rod to go play for somebody else? We’re not the Rangers, he’s not crippling our payroll or our team. The Yanks signed him to this contract and I think they little choice to do anything other than honor it.
March 21st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
as long as he puts up 35+ hr and 100+ rbi he could do anything to himself in the mirror i don’t care
March 21st, 2009 at 2:23 pm
The stench from this circus is nauseating.
March 21st, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Hank Steinbrenner’s blundering intervention into contract negotiations back in 2007 has left us with this millstone around our necks for the full decade of the contract.
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He’s darn productive for a millstone, though. Fact is, A-Rod’s been worth his contract every single year of his career. Anything can happen, of course, but there’s not a whole lot of reason to expect that to change, especially considering that his contract isn’t backloaded.
March 21st, 2009 at 4:51 pm
The question is not how he produces now, next year, or even the year after — he’s still in his prime. He should produce at least 120 RBI for severla seasons. But it was a ten-year deal, and the odds he will continue to be productive past age 40 are poor. The mistake was the length of the contract in a market with no other serious suitors.
March 22nd, 2009 at 4:22 am
True enough, but that mistake is somewhat blunted by the fact that his salary will be going DOWN throughout the next ten years, and if the inflationary cycle that’s expected really comes to pass, the Yanks will be paying the back end of the deal with much cheaper money.
He’s due to make $28 million in 2013, $25 million in 2014, $21 million in 2015, and $20 million in 2016 and 2017. Given typical baseball inflation, or failing the typical increases in revenues MLB has been seeing in the growth phase of the last 10 years or so, then the real economic inflation coming down the pipe, those salaries will be worth about half of what they appear to be worth now, maybe less. Maybe much less.
Of course, that’s still a lot of money. Of course, A-Rod could make all those HR bonuses. But if he does, that’ll mean he’s still somewhat productive, unless he hits the last 200 HR he needs in the next 5 years. Highly doubtful, in my opinion.
The length of the deal was fixed with one number in mind: 763. Hank wanted to make very sure that 763 was hit by a member of the Yankees.
Is that a good reason for a 10-year deal? No, of course not. But it is the most likely explanation.